Got a new travel trailer last week. It's a 28" light weight at 6700 lbs. empty. I have the 2012 Ecoboost, and got the weight distributing hitch with sway control.

The thing towed fine, but there was a brief moment when going about 70 on the highway that it started to sway a bit and pulled the truck slightly. Never lost control. Being new to towing, I wanted to see if that was something to be concerned with, or if there will always be moments of sway regardless of the setup?

Thanks.

 

You might try tightening the sway control on the hitch and see what happens. You almost can't get it too tight.

 

Now that you mention it, I noticed when setting it up that the sway bars moved very easily. Enough so that gravity would cause them to separate if I held one end and dropped the other end downward. The dealer walk though guy was in a hurry and didn't explain it too well. How does one know what the correct level of resistance should be?

Thanks.

 

What brand of WDH do you have? How the WDH is adjusted depends on the brand. Generally the tension bars should be difficult to lift into place.

Find the hitch's instructions about how to put different amounts of tension on the bars, and read your Ford manual about how much tension you need to lower the truck's front end closer to normal.

You could also go back to the dealer and insist they show you how to do it properly. But they may not know what they're talking about. Best to figure it out properly yourself or with somebody you trust.

 

70 mph is likely over the speed rating of your tires and is, IMO, not advisable. Think about your ability to stop or an evasive move in an emergency.

 

The tension bars and sway control bars are 2 different things. You mention that gravity was enough to let the sway control expand so it or they are not tight enough there is a adjuster bolt to increase the friction on the sway control bar or bars depending on if you have 1 or 2 these bolts should be tight enough so that you can not extend it/them by hand. I would recommend you go back to the dealer and have it/them set properly

 

A properly loaded trailer combined with a correctly set up WDH will need no sway control. Like already posted, bring it in and have the dealer show you how to set it up right. I pull a 30' TT with a WDH and no sway control and Ive never had issues with sway.

 

We need to know which WDH you have so that we can help you troubleshoot. Either way it sounds like you were towing a bit to quick (70 is 5mph in excess of the rated speed for the Trailer tires) and you might not have had the WDH/sway setup properly.

 

As stated: The tension bars and sway control bars are 2 different things.

Some tension bars work as sway control and some don't . Without knowing what you have, it hard to say, but there is an add-on type .

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...rol-left/42236

Sold under different names.